By Sebastian O’Kelly
Martin Boyd, the chair of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, has decided to resign and has announced his resignation publicly on Twitter today.
This is a huge loss to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, to the wider efforts to reform the leasehold system and to leaseholders generally.
Justin Madders MP, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston and an LKP patron, expressed his regret here:
Martin’s decision is prompted by the MHCLG civil servants’ response to his complaint about a meeting between LKP, Sir Peter Bottomley and the chair of the Leasehold Advisory Service, Wanda Goldwag on April 25 2019.
This meeting is reported in detail here:
‘If I fail to offend anyone, I will do it next time,’ Bottomley tells appalled leasehold professionals at LEASE annual conference
The matter is now the subject of a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman against MHCLG’s handling of the issue, which is expected to rule shortly. But the views of the civil service on the matter are clear.
Martin has argued that he was subjected to false accusations at the meeting. See article above.
The civil service have ignored these points in their response to the Ombudsman. As a result, Martin feels he has no credibility with officials, with whom LKP meets regularly, and has resigned as our chair.
Instead, the response addresses what the MHCLG permanent secretary terms Ms Goldwag’s “navy language”, which was deployed throughout the meeting.
According to the MHCLG permanent secretary Ms Goldwag is disposed to apologise for this, but after 18 months has not done so (there is reference to an attempt to obtain his phone number).
The meeting was also attended by myself, Katherine O’Riordan, Sir Peter Bottomley’s Senior Parliamentary Adviser, and Joanne Darbyshire, an LKP trustee and co-founder of the NLC.
The MHCLG has made no effort to contact any of those who were present.
Leaseholders should be in no doubt about what has been going on here.
The meeting with Wanda Goldwag was a disgrace.
She ignored the agenda, which the Leasehold Advisory Service had itself set, and immediately launched into a foul-mouthed attack on LKP and particularly Martin.
Neither Martin nor Sir Peter responded to these provocations, and throughout the meeting the only other person who spoke was me, to try to calm matters.
All present were aghast by this performance, the aim of which presumably was to break LKP’s relationship with MPs. It is most unlikely that someone of Ms Goldwag’s nature would make an accurate assessment of Sir Peter Bottomley. Or Martin, come to that.
Leaseholders may wish to ask:
Why should LKP lose its chair in these circumstances?
Why should leaseholders be deprived of the services – freely given over many years – of Martin Boyd because of a series of ill-disciplined and wrong accusations by someone on the public payroll?
How are leaseholders’ interests served by inaction over this by the civil service?
Many officials in MHCLG, other ministries, the Law Commission, the judiciary, the Competition and Markets Authority etc have had regular dealings with Martin Boyd.
If he is wrongly accused of bulling LEASE staff – many lowly paid, women and from ethnic minority backgrounds, as Ms Goldwag emphasised – they need to support him.
Cladding leaseholders in particular owe Martin Boyd a debt of gratitude: it was solely thanks to him that their issues were first raised in Westminster.
It is to be hoped that those MPs with whom LKP has worked for many years – many of them directly assisted by Martin – will not let this matter pass.
Related posts:
Martin Boyd returns to LKP
LKP trustees tell MHCLG that Martin Boyd can return to LKP any time
Martin Boyd should be the chair of LEASE
Reform laws on track for ‘second half of 2020’, Martin Boyd tells Property Week
Sebastian O’Kelly and Martin Boyd praised in House of Commons: put them on the board of LEASE and clear up the ‘muck’ of leasehold
You are better than commercial developers and freeholders so be kind over the cladding catastrophe, LKP urges housing association conference
Dear Martin,
When you have rested and find time to breath, we at About Firstport could do with your expertise and voice.
The Retirement Sector is still filled with companies like Firstport Retirement who continue to Exploit the elderly.
chas
Everyone in leasehold property is being exploited. I used to own a leasehold flat the managing agents and freeholders are crooks and I was blackmailed when I sold it to pay £16,000 for the management pack. Get rid of LEASE they never did anything to help me. The whole system including freeholders and managing agents are villians who want as much money from you as possible. They do very little work to maintain the property but expect you to pay their extortionate charges
Martin
As someone who helped Point West with its numerous issues with the landlord here (still ongoing) and who has done so much for leaseholders around the country, thank you for your incredible efforts. If there is a way that you would stay by us petitioning for a change you would like to see (eg getting rid of this LEASE chair), please let us know as that is the least we can do and from our perspectives this is a big loss, just when progress was being made.
Regards
Roy Martins
Point West Leaseholders Association
116 Cromwell Rd
London SW7 4XN
As a society, we have thankfully realised that bullying is not acceptable. Not in the school environment, the work place, at home or in society as a whole. However, there are always those who think they are the exception to the rule and that bullying equals to being a strong leader….how wrong they are. I am deeply saddened and appalled in equal measure in the way that Ms Goldwag has treated Mr Martin Boyd, her actions cannot and should not be brushed under the carpet and must be addressed. I can only assume she reacted in this way is because she feels threatened by Mr Boyd, as his knowledge of the feudal leasehold system is far more superior to hers. Ms Goldwag should be made to publicly apologise to Mr Boyd, and then actively encouraged to resign from her position as the Chair of Lease. I for one echo what others have already said and ask that Mr Boyd reconsiders his decision – thankyou.
I am very disappointed with Martin Boyds resignation, Martin as well as others have worked tirelessly on public residents behalves, it again comes down bullying the opposition using foul mouthed language to degrade a person so as not to deal with the agenda on hand. She must feel proud of her self. The large companies and government that benefit from this resignation must be patting her on the back.
Mr Boyd has done sterling work for LKP and is a very sad loss, I hope he will reconsider.
Lease hold residents have been exploited far to long in the name of greed
I am really puzzled why Martin saw it necessary to resign. Government, the civil service, Lease, freeholders, the whole array of professionals (including solicitors who claim to like helping leaseholders), all fight tooth and nail to maintain the leasehold system in some some form or other. It follows that they will use all and every means to destabilise and discredit those involved in the fight against leasehold. In this instance they have succeeded, LKP will be lesser for the departure of Martin Boyd.